This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0063808, filed on Aug. 13, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a processed food container capable of reclosing, and more particularly, to an air-tight reclosable processed food container in which the structure is modified so that a lid can be opened easily, a quality of a remained food can be maintained after opening, and a user can check if the lid has been opened or not prior to purchasing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A food container is used for keeping a remained food or when carrying food stuffs for traveling. Especially, when carrying a liquid food stuff, an air-tight sealing structure food container is required for preventing leakage of odor and the liquid.
An example of a sealing structure food container has been disclosed in Korean patent application No. 2003-60740 as depicted in FIG. 1.
The disclosed food container includes a space 2 to which a food is stored, a container body 3, an upper part of which is opened, a lid 6 coupled on the upper part of the container body 3 capable of being closed and opened, and a packing 5 that seals the space 2 by coupling with an edge of the lid 6.
Also, a structure of a coupling leaf 11 in an extended form of the lid 6 for coupling and securing the edge of the lid 6 to the container body 3 is formed on the edge of the lid 6.
This configuration of the container has the advantage of storing a remained food in an air-tight sealed state, but also has the following drawbacks.
First, a packing 5 for sealing the space 2 is required additionally to the container body 3 and the space 2, thereby increasing the number of parts for the container, that is, high manufacturing costs are incurred.
Second, it is impossible for the user to ensure the quality of food because the lid may have been opened prior to purchasing the food container.
Third, the opening operation is complex since a plurality of coupling leafs 11 must be unlocked for opening the lid 6.
Fourth, since heat junction and retort or post-sterilization such as boiling are impossible, the food container cannot be used as a container to store processed food.